Topic: Microsoft, Sony, and 3rd parties E3 2009 Conferences

[Invincible Donkey Kong]

I'm sure you guys would have liked Nintendo's presentation more last year if I had revealed our next two years' worth of games, but that's just not how I roll. 

Anyway, Natal is technically impressive IF it manages to work.  The host, "Waggle Kudo," was having trouble even getting the dashboard to scroll the way he wanted it to, and spazzing out in front of the camera to hit balls is like the soccer minigame in our own WiiFit, but with less precision.  Lionhead's Milo was perhaps the most impressive thing shown, but again, as much as I respect Mr. Molyneux, his track record is not exactly the best in the industry.  All-in-all, even if this project isn't a sham, I see it taking off the ground in a manner similar to Sony's EyeToy; that is, not very far before crashing to Earth in a glorious ball of fire. 

[Flames_of_chaos]

I still think its weird that they are using a camera for Natal considering how the Xbox Vision was a big flop.

[broodwars]

Well well, it seems Microsoft finally decided to break its seemingly unofficial Cease-Fire agreement with Nintendo and declare a new rise of hostilities with this new motion-capturing camera peripheral.  Good.  Nintendo needs a good ass-kicking at its own game to get it out of complacency mode and back into take-no-prisoners mode.  I'm not convinced that this camera will actually work successfully and consistently with real games, but it is an interesting (if even more physically stupid than the Wiimote, with the flailing in the air) concept.  Let's see if and how Nintendo decides to fire back tommorow.

[BeautifulShy]

Hmm 5 mins till Ubisoft's conference starts. I guess we can discuss Ubisoft's conference here.

[BeautifulShy]

Ubisoft live blogs.

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/01/joystiq-live-from-ubisofts-e3-2009-keynote/

http://games.ign.com/articles/988/988881p1.html

http://twitter.com/Nintendo_NWR

[BeautifulShy]

Starting now.

[BeautifulShy]

Music just got pumped up to press conference volumes. Going dark now, and a Ubi promo trailer plays -- Assassin's Creed 2, Petz, Rayman, TMNT, Splinter Cell and Red Steel 2 are shown in a musical montage.

[Flames_of_chaos]

Guys I got word that we will be handling updates via twitter. So follow the NWR Twitter to see updates from the staff while they are at the event. I also made a headline on the main page about it. Enjoy

[BeautifulShy]

That's good to hear FOC.

[Flames_of_chaos]

Red Steel 2 bundled with MotionPlus yay. Screw buying MotionPlus by itself, when you can buy it bundled with a game that needs it.

[BlackNMild2k1]

when is Pele gonna hop on his broom and win this match of quiddich soccer?

[NWR_pap64]

Well well, it seems Microsoft finally decided to break its seemingly unofficial Cease-Fire agreement with Nintendo and declare a new rise of hostilities with this new motion-capturing camera peripheral.  Good.  Nintendo needs a good ass-kicking at its own game to get it out of complacency mode and back into take-no-prisoners mode.  I'm not convinced that this camera will actually work successfully and consistently with real games, but it is an interesting (if even more physically stupid than the Wiimote, with the flailing in the air) concept.  Let's see if and how Nintendo decides to fire back tommorow.

They will. Its called Motion Plus.

You should read more into this, brood. The time for MS to reveal this camera should have been last year, a time in which the Wii was very, very popular and it was a great opportunity to steal some thunder. They didn't and decided to once again focus on Sony. Nintendo reveals Motion Plus early because they thought MS and Sony would unveil their own Wiimote concepts and steal some of their consumers away. But this didn't happen. This gave Nintendo more than enough time to work on MP some more and create more games around it.

Now God willing Nintendo WILL answer back in a big way and show some games that truly take Wii gaming to the next level and makes anything third parties create obsolete. THAT will be Nintendo's retaliation.

MS is too late. They are basically starting the race just as Nintendo is two laps ahead. The time to have answered was in 2007 and 2008. By 2009 the generation is too defined.

Not to mention that MS's other attempts at "kicking Nintendo's ass" have failed (Banjo Kazooie, Lips, You're at the Movies, Family Games etc.) so once again, I think Nintendo isn't even worried about what either Sony or MS will do because they already have an answer and both companies are struggling to figure out Nintendo's strategy.

[broodwars]

Well well, it seems Microsoft finally decided to break its seemingly unofficial Cease-Fire agreement with Nintendo and declare a new rise of hostilities with this new motion-capturing camera peripheral.  Good.  Nintendo needs a good ass-kicking at its own game to get it out of complacency mode and back into take-no-prisoners mode.  I'm not convinced that this camera will actually work successfully and consistently with real games, but it is an interesting (if even more physically stupid than the Wiimote, with the flailing in the air) concept.  Let's see if and how Nintendo decides to fire back tommorow.

They will. Its called Motion Plus.

You should read more into this, brood. The time for MS to reveal this camera should have been last year, a time in which the Wii was very, very popular and it was a great opportunity to steal some thunder. They didn't and decided to once again focus on Sony. Nintendo reveals Motion Plus early because they thought MS and Sony would unveil their own Wiimote concepts and steal some of their consumers away. But this didn't happen. This gave Nintendo more than enough time to work on MP some more and create more games around it.

Now God willing Nintendo WILL answer back in a big way and show some games that truly take Wii gaming to the next level and makes anything third parties create obsolete. THAT will be Nintendo's retaliation.

MS is too late. They are basically starting the race just as Nintendo is two laps ahead. The time to have answered was in 2007 and 2008. By 2009 the generation is too defined.

Not to mention that MS's other attempts at "kicking Nintendo's ass" have failed (Banjo Kazooie, Lips, You're at the Movies, Family Games etc.) so once again, I think Nintendo isn't even worried about what either Sony or MS will do because they already have an answer and both companies are struggling to figure out Nintendo's strategy.

Of course there's motion plus, but time (and hopefully tommorow's press conference) will tell on whether 3rd parties will fall over themselves to use it or hell...just how much Nintendo themselves will use it.  The interesting thing about this new Xbox peripheral is that if their own marketing spin and tech demos is accurate, you only need the camera.  If you want to hold something to simulate and perhaps customize the experience, great.  If not, you don't need it with possibly full body interactivity (instead of just your arm and hand).  We'll just have to see if Microsoft can back up their boasting with actual games, and if Nintendo will have more compelling games using Motion Plus.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Wii is getting a camera!!!??

[BeautifulShy]

Your Shape coming to the Wii with a camera this fall. Looks good.

[BeautifulShy]

Rabbids Go Home time.
Rabbids on stage!
Trailer we already saw

[Adrock]

MS is too late. They are basically starting the race just as Nintendo is two laps ahead. The time to have answered was in 2007 and 2008. By 2009 the generation is too defined.

When did the 360 launch? 2005? MS is 4 years too late. The Wii remote was only successful because it was the whole point of the system and from the beginning. The technology would have failed had Nintendo tried to sell it as a peripheral for GCN. I'm not bashing the technology, it could be great, but honestly, at this point, who gives a sh*t? Like the Avatars, MS is only attempting to one-up Nintendo instead of coming up with something new and interesting. There's no stopping the Wii and the only reason that's true is because the idea is only new once.

[Deguello]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/technologybrierdudleysblog/2009286427_microsoft_xbox_throws_down_gau.html


If this article is even close to correct, then MS can forget about anybody buying this thing.  $200?  No way in hell.

[broodwars]

MS is too late. They are basically starting the race just as Nintendo is two laps ahead. The time to have answered was in 2007 and 2008. By 2009 the generation is too defined.

When did the 360 launch? 2005? MS is 4 years too late. The Wii remote was only successful because it was the whole point of the system and from the beginning. The technology would have failed had Nintendo tried to sell it as a peripheral for GCN. I'm not bashing the technology, it could be great, but honestly, at this point, who gives a sh*t? Like the Avatars, MS is only attempting to one-up Nintendo instead of coming up with something new and interesting. There's no stopping the Wii and the only reason that's true is because the idea is only new once.

The idea may only be new once, but I like the idea of another company offering even token competition to what Nintendo's doing with the Wii.  Any competition is good for the industry in trying to spark new ideas.

[NWR_pap64]

Well well, it seems Microsoft finally decided to break its seemingly unofficial Cease-Fire agreement with Nintendo and declare a new rise of hostilities with this new motion-capturing camera peripheral.  Good.  Nintendo needs a good ass-kicking at its own game to get it out of complacency mode and back into take-no-prisoners mode.  I'm not convinced that this camera will actually work successfully and consistently with real games, but it is an interesting (if even more physically stupid than the Wiimote, with the flailing in the air) concept.  Let's see if and how Nintendo decides to fire back tommorow.

They will. Its called Motion Plus.

You should read more into this, brood. The time for MS to reveal this camera should have been last year, a time in which the Wii was very, very popular and it was a great opportunity to steal some thunder. They didn't and decided to once again focus on Sony. Nintendo reveals Motion Plus early because they thought MS and Sony would unveil their own Wiimote concepts and steal some of their consumers away. But this didn't happen. This gave Nintendo more than enough time to work on MP some more and create more games around it.

Now God willing Nintendo WILL answer back in a big way and show some games that truly take Wii gaming to the next level and makes anything third parties create obsolete. THAT will be Nintendo's retaliation.

MS is too late. They are basically starting the race just as Nintendo is two laps ahead. The time to have answered was in 2007 and 2008. By 2009 the generation is too defined.

Not to mention that MS's other attempts at "kicking Nintendo's ass" have failed (Banjo Kazooie, Lips, You're at the Movies, Family Games etc.) so once again, I think Nintendo isn't even worried about what either Sony or MS will do because they already have an answer and both companies are struggling to figure out Nintendo's strategy.

Of course there's motion plus, but time (and hopefully tommorow's press conference) will tell on whether 3rd parties will fall over themselves to use it or hell...just how much Nintendo themselves will use it.  The interesting thing about this new Xbox peripheral is that if their own marketing spin and tech demos is accurate, you only need the camera.  If you want to hold something to simulate and perhaps customize the experience, great.  If not, you don't need it with possibly full body interactivity (instead of just your arm and hand).  We'll just have to see if Microsoft can back up their boasting with actual games, and if Nintendo will have more compelling games using Motion Plus.

That's the key right there. Both companies need to prove that their new technology is worth it. But what I am saying is that Nintendo has a HUGE advancement over MS because Motion Plus is a reality and about to be released with real games. MS just showed ideas and promises and it might get delayed further and further while more and more MP games are released.

MS should have announced this last year, before Motion Plus was revealed and a reality. It would have stolen some of Nintendo's thunder and by now they would have had major games to show off.

So again, as much as some people wants the MS camera to destroy Nintendo it won't. Nintendo's strategy was defined from the very beginning. MS is now starting to respond to it.

[TJ Spyke]

$200? Microsoft would be lucky to sell even 10K at that price if that reporters guess is right (he admits he is just guessing that it will cost at least $200). Even at $50 it would struggle to make any impact this late into the Xbox 360's lifespan, but $200 would kill any chance of it being anything but a failure.

[BeautifulShy]

TMNT Smash Up!

[BlackNMild2k1]

@ $200 they might as well just wait and launch it with the new Xbox when everyone is wiling to pay premium.

[broodwars]

The thing is, while it's probably certainly Microsoft's hope that this peripheral adds a few years onto the life expentency of the 360, I think this is more being announced now to prepare people for a new console down the line that will have this technology as part of its central design philosophy.  If you can sell people on the technology now when it looks somewhat abstract and futuristic, you don't have to sell them on it later when you're actually serious with a real piece of hardware designed to use it properly and so you can focus on the actual games rather than the technology.

Besides, this announcement was also possibly made to try to drive another boot through the teeth of Sony, who are also rumored to have a motion controller of sorts in the works.  This probably won't do much against Nintendo, but it could do even more real damage to Sony if their motion tech is nowhere near as advanced.

[BeautifulShy]

And Ubisoft's conference is over.  Check out the TMNT: Smash Up and Red Steel 2 topics for videos and hands on impressions.